cannabisnews.com: FBI Tracking Terrorist Groups
FBI Tracking Terrorist Groups
Posted by FoM on September 19, 2001 at 10:54:09 PT
Michael Kirkland, UPI Legal Affairs Correspondent
Source: United Press International
U.S. law enforcement officials said Tuesday they believe terror cells associated with last week's attacks may still be on the loose in the United States, and the FBI and other federal agencies are in a race to track them down before they strike. Tuesday, U.S. warplanes and a surveillance aircraft were visible over the capital and its Maryland suburbs. Reagan National Airport remained closed, with authorities saying it was too near the nation's nerve centers in case of another hijacking.
Late Tuesday, an FBI official, who asked not to be quoted by name, said that the bureau has recovered a "good volume" of e-mail messages from computers used by the suspects. The messages are in Arabic and English and can provide investigators with the content of the messages and assistance in locating their contacts. He said that private Web-based e-mail services like Yahoo have been cooperating in the investigation. The bureau has seized computers in residents and from public libraries where they had information that the suspects used terminals. At Capitol Hill, further precautions were in the works. The Senate Press Gallery told reporters they would be given gas masks as a precaution. The use of gas masks on Capitol Hill is not unprecedented. The gallery passed out the masks during President Clinton's impeachment because of repeated bomb threats. However, Tuesday's action was one more sign that officials are taking the current situation very seriously. While he did not address such possible attacks directly, Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters Tuesday, "We would hope if there are other attacks in the making, they would be deterred" by heightened security. Ashcroft appeared at a news conference in FBI headquarters. The attorney general also said the terrorists who attacked the United States last week may have intended to hijack more than the four airliners actually taken over. "We are beginning to learn more about the attack last Tuesday and the plot to make it happen," Ashcroft told reporters. He added that "associates" of the suspected hijackers apparently are still in the United States. "We are looking at the possibility that there might have been more than four planes targeted," Ashcroft said, though that possibility has not yet been confirmed. In addition, 75 people caught up in the probe are now being held by immigration officials because of their immigration status, according to the attorney general. Other Justice Department officials have said that some of those being held by the Immigration and Naturalization Service have cooperated with the probe, while others have not. At least two, possibly many more of those 75, have been arrested on material witness warrants, or even on criminal charges. But officials refuse to discuss arrests, saying all such activity is now under court seal. Ashcroft said under his orders the INS commissioner has changed the regulations under which aliens can be held in detention before bringing a charge, doubling the time from 24 to 48 hours. However, under the old and new regulations, those limits could always be ignored in an "emergency," and have been in the current probe. Later, however, a Justice official, speaking on background, said that no state of war or national emergency now exists. President Bush can declare a national emergency, but he hasn't done so and only Congress can declare war. The president has not asked for a declaration of war. The attorney general said the "watch list" being circulated by the FBI has grown from more than 100 to "more than 190." The list is being circulated to other federal, state and local agencies and to the airlines, and contains the names of people the FBI would like to "talk to" in the investigation. In response to the current crisis, Ashcroft said he is instructing every U.S. attorney's office in the country to set up an "antiterrorism task force, ... part of a national network to disrupt, dismantle and punish terrorist organizations throughout the country." Meanwhile, one security official in Washington said a computer screen at the Capitol Hill Police command center was rolling constantly with alerts. Two of the alerts were for specific Middle Eastern men and their vehicles. The men are considered "armed and extremely dangerous," the security official said, "so dangerous that we (the police) were told not to approach them" but to notify the special units instead. Capitol Hill police had moved concrete barriers onto roads surrounding congressional offices Tuesday, and were searching vehicles and examining IDs before letting congressional employees through. One of the officers, staring at traffic still moving on Independence Avenue, a main thoroughfare to Capitol Hill, said much of the area around Congress may eventually have to be sealed off. "I have a pocketful of alerts from yesterday," the officer said, referring to a cascade of alarms on Monday. Also Tuesday, the Hart Senate Office Building and Capitol Hill Police headquarters were emptied after someone pulled a fire alarm in each building. Both alarms turned out to be false. The Justice Department itself was emptied for about an hour after a bomb threat Monday. Employees were let back in after bomb-sniffing dogs from the nearby FBI searched the grounds around the building. The FBI is still committing 4,000 of its special agents to the investigation, the largest in U.S. history. The agents are being aided by 3,000 FBI support personnel. Another 400 FBI lab personnel are sifting through debris at the crash sites in New York City, rural Pennsylvania and the Pentagon near Washington. Attorney General John Ashcroft has also committed large elements of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Ironically, the DEA may gain some advantage in its anti-drug war from a U.S. strike against Afghanistan if the investigation determines that renegade Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden was behind last week's attacks. Robert Weiner, who was the spokesman for drug czars Barry McCaffrey and Lee Brown during the Clinton administrations, issued a statement Tuesday saying bin Laden and the Taliban regime shielding him in Afghanistan should be held responsible for the heroin traffic in that country. "Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of the opium poppy, the crop refined into heroin," Weiner said. "According to the State department, Afghanistan's poppy cultivation area has quadrupled since 1990." The FBI has identified the 19 hijacking suspects it believes took over four airliners last Tuesday. Their names and some of their personal information are accessible from the bureau's Web site, fbi.gov, as well as a toll-free hotline and other avenues for reporting information. Two of the hijacked airliners took off from Boston and were headed for Los Angeles. Each was crashed into a tower at the World Trade Center in New York City, causing the destruction of the towers and thousands of deaths. Another airliner was hijacked after it took off from Dulles International Airport near Washington on its way to Los Angeles. It was crashed into the Pentagon, causing almost 200 deaths. A fourth airliner was hijacked after departing Newark, N.J., for San Francisco. It crashed into the ground near Shanksville, Pa., possibly after passengers or crew rushed the hijackers. All of the hijacked planes carried a full load of fuel for the transcontinental flight, making the crashes that much more lethal. Last week's crashes were the worst terror attacks in the history of the United States, and the worst loss of life on U.S. soil since the Civil War. Source: United Press InternationalAuthor: Michael Kirkland, UPI Legal Affairs CorrespondentPublished: September 19, 2001 Copyright: 2001 United Press InternationalWebsite: http://www.upi.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Holy Warriors Escalate an Old War http://freedomtoexhale.com/hw.htmU.S. Drug War Pays Afghans Who Aid Terrorists http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10932.shtmlFor Now, Security Trumps Libertieshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10931.shtmlBin Laden Taliban Heroin Connection http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10930.shtmlHutchinson Helping Track Terrorists http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10911.shtmlBan On Poppy Farming Virtually Wipes Out Opium http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8717.shtml
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Comment #18 posted by kaptinemo on September 21, 2001 at 06:32:39 PT:
A surveillance plane over DC?
Take a guess who runs it:Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST)
http://www.specialoperations.com/Domestic/DOE/NEST.htmAnd what do you think they are looking for?Stay out of major metropolitan cities.
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Comment #17 posted by Robbie on September 20, 2001 at 11:40:10 PT
Ananda Lewis?
Looks AND brains?I am heartened to see a mainstream program such as this tackle this subject head on. We'll see how it goes, but I'm looking forward to it.By the by: *sheesh* I kept trying to post and my name wasn't registered, but it would let me register and said "Thanks for registering" And then I'd try to post again, and it would say "You seem not to have registered." Ahh well...c'est la vie.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 20, 2001 at 09:17:06 PT
Update on Nimda Virus
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/specialreport/0,12737,6021501,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01
Holy Warriors Escalate an Old War
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Comment #15 posted by mr greengenes on September 20, 2001 at 08:41:36 PT
Body language
"But you can see the fear in his eyes. He knows his neck is on the chopping block. One wrong move, and his handler's will cut their losses. And Uncle Dicky gets to be Prez."This reminded me of something I noticed during their news conference the other day. While they were sitting in their chairs, I took notice of their body language. Usually when two people like each other, at least one, if not both individuals will cross their legs toward the other person and kind of lean towards the other person. During the entire press conference both of them had their legs crossed away from each other and looked like they couldn't shift away in their seats from each other far enough to suit either one of them. Just an interesting observation.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on September 20, 2001 at 08:12:14 PT
Hi kapt
Thanks kapt,
I didn't see your comment when I posted the one I just did.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 20, 2001 at 08:09:35 PT
Hi Everyone
We are having a little problem with new articles that I'm posting. There isn't a place to comment and I emailed Matt and I'm sure he will get it fixed as soon as he can.
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Comment #12 posted by theropinfool on September 20, 2001 at 07:40:44 PT
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"...YE WHO LOVE A NATION'S LEGENDS,
LOVE THE BALLADS OF A PEOPLE,
THAT THE VOICES FROM AFAR OFF
CALL TO US TO PAUSE AND LISTEN.
SPEAK IN TONES SO PLAIN AND CHILDLIKE,
SCARCELY CAN THE EAR DISTINGUISH
WHETHER THEY ARE SUNG OR SPOKEN;-
LISTEN TO THIS INDIAN LEGEND,
TO THE SONG OF HIAWATHA!"HIAWATHA
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Comment #11 posted by kaptinemo on September 20, 2001 at 07:24:16 PT:
Yes, Rambler, I CAN believe it.
I've made no bones about the fact that I believe that W is a puppet, incapable of anything approaching real leadership or initiative; he is a failed businessman, after all. His Daddy and hsi Daddy's Bonesman friends had to bail him out. He's a pale imitation of his "Poppy" (my, now that's a Freudian slip if ever there was one, given Daddy ran the CIA's coke-for-guns Iran/Contra deals ffrm behind the scenes)...and knows it. He reads his scripts with all the lackluster performance of a clueless child in kindergarten, and is terribly fearful of stepping outside the bounds of the box his handlers have constructed for him. Like the 'invisible fence' you see advertised in magazines for Rover, he has a sort of collar around his neck; when he gets too close to the bounds of his yard, instead of an electric shock, he gets a word or two. Which is usually sufficient to keep him from straying. But you can see the fear in his eyes. He knows his neck is on the chopping block. One wrong move, and his handler's will cut their losses. And Uncle Dicky gets to be Prez.We all have heard the old Chinese curse of "May you live in interesting times". Well, we are having some very interesting times, indeed. I guess if the Powers-That-Be figure that we can have an B-movie actor as Prez, we'll settle for a clown, too.
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on September 20, 2001 at 06:39:42 PT:
For those having a hard time finding out
where Ananda Lewis can be heard in you area:STATION LISTINGS:
http://www.theanandalewisshow.com/index.htmJust select your city and it will show you the nearest radio station. Some of these stations no doubt have their own audio streams; you might want to check.
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on September 20, 2001 at 06:27:28 PT:
FoM, something wrong with the Comments section?
I just went to the posting immediately above this one (" Pot Rally Goes On Despite National Tragedy") and found what looks like HTML code where the Comments section is normally located. The server have hiccups or something?
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Comment #8 posted by Rambler on September 19, 2001 at 23:17:26 PT
Unbelievable!
I find it hard to believe,,this is not a joke. PRESIDENT BUSH: First, let me -- anybody who harbors terrorists needs
to fear the United States and the rest of the free world. Anybody who
houses a terrorist, encourages terrorism will be held accountable. And we
are gathering all evidence on this particular crime and other crimes against
freedom-loving people. And I would strongly urge any nation in the world to reject terrorism,
expel terrorists. I would strongly urge the Taliban to turn over the al
Qaeda organizers who hide in their country. We're -- we're on the case.
We're gathering as much evidence as we possibly can to be able to make our
case to the world about all countries and their willingness to harbor or not
harbor terrorists. Q A specific message to Iraq? PRESIDENT BUSH: The message to every country is, there will be a
campaign against terrorist activity, a worldwide campaign. And there is an
outpouring of support for such a campaign. Freedom-loving people understand
that terrorism knows no borders, that terrorists will strike in order to
bring fear, to try to change the behavior of countries that love
liberty. And we will not let them do that. Now, this is a campaign in which nations will contribute in a variety
of ways. Some nations will be willing to join in a very overt way. Other
nations will be willing to join by sharing information -- and information in
a campaign such as this is going to be incredibly important. It's very
important for us to be able to find where these people are. There's going to need to be a campaign -- there needs to be a financial
component of the campaign, where we need to cooperate to make sure we cut
off funds, find these organizations that serve as front groups for funding
these terrorist cells. And so my message to all nations is we look forward to full
cooperation. Q Mr. President, since you've declared war against terrorism, there
are a number of countries who seem to be saying, not so fast. China, in
particular, said that any strike must be preceded by irrefutable evidence.
Others have raised concerns about civilian casualties. So the first
question is, are you now prepared to provide such irrefutable evidence to
countries, and what in your mind is the biggest challenge that you face in
trying to construct this coalition? PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, we'll do what we need to do to
achieve the first objective of a long campaign. And the first objective is
to bring people to justice who we feel like committed this particular set of
atrocities, and to hold the organization accountable and to hold those who
harbor them accountable. That's the first objective of a very long
campaign. David, I think that the real challenge for America and our allies in
this effort is to do a couple of things: One, condition the world, starting
with our own country, that this will be a different kind of battle, series
of battles; that they will be fought visibly sometimes, and sometimes we'll
never see what may be taking place; that the -- and that we fully understand
that some nations will be comfortable supporting overt activities, some
nations will be comfortable supporting covert activities, some nations will
only be comfortable in providing information, others will be helpful and
only feel comfortable helping on financial matters. I understand
that. Thirdly, as these various -- as the campaign evolves, some nations
may take a more active role than others. The mind-set of war must change. It is a different type of battle.
It's a different type of battlefield. It's a different type of war. And
that, in itself, is going to be a real challenge for America and those other
nations who understand that, because sometimes -- look, the mission is to
root out terrorist activities. And there's a variety of ways in which that
can happen. Clearly, one of our focuses is to get people out of their caves, smoke
them out, get them moving and get them -- is about as plainly as I can put
it. And we're focused on that. But we're also focused, and we recognize
that the al Qaeda organization exists in some 60-plus countries, and we're
beginning to work with other nations that are receptive to the notion of
fighting terrorism, and say, help us round up these people; you can play a
constructive role. We fully understand that certain NGOs, nongovernmental organizations,
serve as fronts, as a funding mechanism for terrorist organizations. We
expect there to be activity on those fronts, as well. So the challenge is to redefine the terms of the conflict, the
campaign, in a way that the leaders understand, and in a way that the people
of the world understand. There's a certain impatience with war of the
past. People demand a certain clarity of a specific battlefield. But this
is the first -- this is a new type of struggle. It's really the first
series of battles in the 21st century. Again I repeat, terrorism knows no borders, it has no capital, but it
does have a common ideology, and that is they hate freedom, and they hate
freedom-loving people. And they particularly hate America at this moment.
But many leaders understand that what happened in New York City and
Washington, D.C. could have easily have happened in their capital, as well. It's a long answer to a short question. Q Can I follow on one point? Do you to your mind have irrefutable
evidence that links al Qaeda, and specifically Osama bin Laden to these
attacks? PRESIDENT BUSH: When we take action, we will take action because we
believe -- because we know we'll be on the right. And I want to remind
people that there have been terrorist activities on America in the past, as
well. And there has been -- indictments have been handed down. This is a war not against a specific individual, nor will it be a war
against solely one organization. It is a war against terrorist activities.
Our nation must do everything we can to protect the homeland, and we are.
The Attorney General briefs on a daily basis, as the Director of the FBI,
talking about what we're doing to do the best we can to protect the American
people from any further activity. But the best way to make sure that America is safe, the people of
Indonesia are safe, is to find terrorism at its roots and to root it out, to
get them out of their caves and get them moving, cut off their finances, and
hold them accountable.
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Comment #7 posted by puff_tuff on September 19, 2001 at 22:54:51 PT:
Pot Rally Post?
Have a listen to Richard Cowans 420 News Commentary today.MarijuanaNews When There is No Marijuana News.
Getting the issue back on the public agenda.
Here are 9 points to consider.
http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-919.html
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Comment #6 posted by CongressmanSuet on September 19, 2001 at 21:05:54 PT
I think we are under attack...
I had a crucial, mind-boggling post to make and was not able to post it. We are talking " The post that could save mankind" kinda stuff here. I know it isnt your fault FoM. you do your best, but I think something sinister is going on here, try posting on the next article....ad no one here should complain about having to re-register, hell before you know it you will have a national ID to show...
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Comment #5 posted by theropinfool on September 19, 2001 at 20:26:35 PT
jeesh
Holy Cow, all this is gettin' awfully complicated.Looks like a war on liberty to me.
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Comment #4 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on September 19, 2001 at 15:30:17 PT:
PROHIBITION and TERRORISM
The Iron law of Prohibiton says that the more a thing that is desired is prohibited, the higher its value becomes.At some point in time the value is so great there is enough chaos to involve law enforcement. At that point "normal" people exit the field and are replaces by entitiies that can cope with law enforcment - namely, organized crime.Why them? Because there is profit to be had. Pure and simple.Vigorous enforcemnet - say, a war - keeps the prices high until the distribution networks develop routes around law enforcement. Viola! Increased supply, increased purity, cheaper prices. The Wal-Mart guarantee.Enforcemnet of Cannabis prohibition has deterred law enforcement from focusing on real drugs (though they are clearly a medical issue) such that cocaine and heroin are cheaper and more available today, while the weed is demonized like we don't know no better. (which of course, most of us know, but are not in a position of enough power to deny the obvious).All the while, the particular sorts able to move the shipments of REAL drugs turn out to be netorks of terrorists. They can deal with the police.They deal with them by buying them. Law enforcement and National security has been corrupted and severely damaged by this phenomnon of the war on druugs. Their scandals involve legal, civil, and human-rights violations, including outright murder.The legalization of cannabis alone could severly disrupt the profits of numerous organized crime networks that feed off it. Havoc. simple market forces. Remove the subsidizing effect. Smuggling grinds nearly to a halt. It's not rocket science: that the War on druuugs actively and positively stimulates and subsidizes the profits of the black market is clear. The problem that is about to occur is that the american people are going to be told that the War on druuugs is more important than ever, even while they can understand the Iron Law of Prohibition. The leaders are going to tell bald-faced lies to gain scary amounts of unconstitutional powers.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34453,00.htmlThe above link is a fox story about that. I think that Fox is very right-wing so there may be some excess politcal flavoring, but it highlights the comcerns.http://www.civilliberties.org/billof.htmlthat's a link to the Bill of rights, so you can read them if you haven't before. They have been under siege in the War on Druuugs, and this terrorist attack is providing the cover The Leaders need to suspend them while we are all waving flags. Prohibition historically, and I mean throughout recorded history, has always been a sham: a cover to provide reason to limit people's freedoms, speech, dissent, and privacy.The Prohibiton of Cannabis is the longest-running, hardest working, and still at it, civil-rights violation of our time. That it finaces war and acts of terrorism against us is beyond outrageous."A people that surrenders its liberty for an illusion of security deserves neither" Ben Franklin
war against cannabis
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Comment #3 posted by mr.greengenes on September 19, 2001 at 14:29:43 PT
Ananda Lewis Show
Just a heads up in case anybody is interested, Ananda Lewis is having a show on legalizing marijuana for both recreational use and medical on Thursday(tomorrow).
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 19, 2001 at 13:23:40 PT
Tonight on A & E - - Murder and Marijuana
AMERICAN JUSTICE: Murder and Marijuana Newshawk: Michael S.Airs Wednesday, September 19 at 9/8 p.m. and 1/12 a.m. CThttp://www.aande.com/tv/shows/billkurtis/ajhighlights.html#murderIn 1988 Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, a law stipulating that drug dealers who ordered killings could face the death penalty. The first person to be convicted and sentenced to death under this law was not an inner-city crack dealer or a mafia don, it was David Ronald Chandler, a marijuana dealer from the small town of Piedmont, Alabama. In September 1990, Marlin Shuler's remains were dug up from a whiskey still in Alabama. Authorities arrested David Chandler for ordering his murder. Shuler's brother-in-law, Charles Jarrell, claimed that Chandler had offered him $500 to kill Shuler. Chandler was found guilty and sentenced to death. One year after the trial, Jarrell recanted his testimony and offered a different motive for killing Shuler: he had gotten fed up with Shuler who was beating his sister. Jarrell went further, claiming that investigators had pressured him into accusing Chandler of ordering the hit. Chandler's attorneys won a stay of execution. But in 1996, the court affirmed Chandler's conviction, saying the recantation wasn't believable. In his last day in office, President Clinton spared Chandler from being the first federal prisoner to be executed since 1963, and commuted his sentence to life without parole. A second trial in 2000 also affirmed Chandler's conviction.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 19, 2001 at 12:20:37 PT
Update On Nimda Virus
Nimda Infections May Be Peaking http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54522-2001Sep19.html
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